"Please, sir, it wasn't my idea, I swear it!"
Jude frowned at the cadence of her words. Even past the panicked sobs, he could tell she was a villager or servant. And in that moment, he knew that the mystery wasn't solved. They wouldn't know the culprit unless the woman could be persuaded to talk. And even then, what hold would they have
over the blackmailer? None. He hadn't received his five-thousand pounds, so the talc would be told.
"Who do you work for?" he growled in frustration.
She wept harder, and shook her head in answer.
"God damn it! Who do you work for?"
"Please, sir. Please."
"Well, if you won't speak the truth, at least keep your mouth shut."
Wrapping his hand around her arm, Jude tugged her through the trees toward the lighter night beyond them. Aidan had already grown tired of the party, and when Jude had relieved him, he'd volunteered to wait in the garden instead of going inside. Jude saw the orange glow of his cigar when he was still forty steps away.
"I've got her."
"Her?" Aidan asked, pushing to his feet.
The windows of the manor cast a faint glow over the garden, so Jude tugged down the girl's cloak to get a look. She was no one he recognized, and Aidan looked her over and shrugged as well. Back to square one.
"We don't dare interrogate her here. If you'll call for one of the carriages, I'll meet you just past the gates."
"Good idea. I'll let Edward know."
The girl stiffened in his hands. "No! Please don't."
"You don't want to go with us? There's a simple solution to that, sweetheart. Tell us who sent you to retrieve the money."
She shook her head, then jerked straight. "I don't know who sent me!" she said brightly, as if the idea had just occurred to her. Jude rolled his eyes and led her back toward the woods.
"Then we'll spend the carriage ride discussing his appearance, shall we? Perhaps one of us will recognize him."
"Don't take me away," she plead a few times as they walked. Jude ignored her in the hopes she would break and confess, but she didn't.
Though he was naturally sympathetic to women at a disadvantage, Jude spent the next quarter hour steeling himself against her pitiful pleas. Whether she was responsible or not, she'd played an essential part in this plot to destroy Marissa, and he would not let his tender heart affect the plan.
When the carriage finally rattled from the dark, the girl ducked down and tried to lunge toward escape, but Jude caught her on her second step and lifted her easily through the open door. He jumped in behind her and found that Edward had joined them as well. Jude tossed the money to him.
"Harry is going to gather up the women in a few minutes," Edward explained. "I didn't think it wise to usher everyone out in a rush." His eyes slid to the girl, now huddled in the corner of he seat. "Who is she?"
"She won't say."
Edward tugged her cloak back and frowned. "I don't think I know her, but she's a touch unremarkable, I suppose. Who are you, girl?"
She shook her head and tugged the hood back up. "Please let me go. I'm only a servant. I had nothing to do with this!"
Jude glared at her bowed head. "And yet you haven't yet asked what 'this' is, which strikes me as highly suspicious."
"Tonight could go very badly for you," Edward added. "A few years in jail, at least. But if you tell us the name of your employer, perhaps it will end well."
The girl looked up then, her eyes widening at the thought, but perhaps she was smart enough to see they were bluffing, because she shook her head again. In truth, it would go badly for her either way. If her master turned her out for giving away his identity, she'd be unemployable whether she went to jail or not.
Jude cocked his head and studied her, now that she was looking at them. He narrowed his eyes at the sight of her full mouth. She was pretty enough that this might not be about her position.
He considered Cousin Harry one last time as he offered his next conjecture. "Perhaps it is not a matter of who her employer is, but her lover?" She only looked momentarily confused, so he shook his head. "No, that's not it. Her accomplice is not her lover, so perhaps it's a woman behind this, after all."